Track layout for loading and unloading



Jam 35 195@ MCDQNALD TRACK LAYOUT FOR LOADING AND UNLOADING 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed June 4, l9

Jam 3% W. E. MCDONALD 2,493

TRACK LAYOUT FOR emme AND umoannm Filed June 1945 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Jan. 3, 1950 ear eerie TRACKMLAYOUTFOR LOADING AND UNLOADING 1 (Granted-i underethe act of March 3, 1883,3 35

amended-:April-30,1928; 370 0. G. 3757) The invention describediherein; if patented,-g, maybe manufacturedand used by or for; the Gov 1- ern-ment for governmental: pnr eeses; ivithoutagthe payment to me of anyroyaltyi. hereonzzev This. invention relates ;.to railwawcar; loading. and. unloading.;i1evices:.- and. JmOre -particularly "to a devicelfor loading and-unloading refrigerator railway cars and. other scarriers.,.rthe-ifloors of which, dueto theuseaxof floor-gratings, do not readily lend themselves to the:operationzofwheel-; 1 9 ing" vehicles. .thereover:::;

Considerable difliculty has been experiencedein .ethe movement of commodities into andzant of rail-1v Way freight.'carsyduezto thesdifference. in height: which often pexistsrbetweenthet'floorl iof the ;.car .1? and; the loading. dock or platformxrzForkeliit trucks used'to move materialraresnsubject:to 6X1; cessive wear andfltearbecauses.it::is necessaryzfor them to negotiate; a sharp incline :up the conventional car plate which bridges the: spacenbetween theclock and the, carrfloor.-The narrowwwidth of most car doors :addszzto theudifficulties which 41 confront the fork-lifttruck operator. Not only must he negotiate the sharp inclinenup the car plate, but he must :be carefulrito direct the. 102L113? into the car throughqthe narrow "doom-:These conditions not only make-thezcardoadingopera tion: a time-consuming one, but-also:results-1m damage to material: which frequently fallseor is knocked off the lift truck; a 3

An object .of my;inventionis to provideia device which will eliminate the-necessity: T1501? the fork-,- lift truck to enter the freight can during loading or unloading.-

Another object is to provide .a carcloadingde-a vice which will eliminate the necessity for the :usezof a conventionalcarrplatei A further objectis to provide a car-loading .device'which will make car'loadingandunloading l smooth, speedy andlefficient operation-with a m-in- 4 U imum of stress-0n equipment.-=:

Another object of thiSwiIlVfiZltiOilriS to provid I a car loading device whichwillpermit-:i-oadingm w unloading of bothxends-pf thelcar -to' be carried on at the same.time.. 4 5

Further objects, advantageseandrfeaturesrwillser' be apparent from the following:specification:and accompanying vdrawingsiin whichr:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the track laycntzx: comprising my invention 59 Fig; 2 is a: front elevational'wiewiof the exterior: '51" or dock standv portion of. my -'t1'aclxlayeut,-:- parts: TI being shown in sectionle-r.

Fig; 3 is'ailfragmentaryside elevationa'liviewzof 1:: the structure illustrated :in Fig: 2: .4 55

tion with my inventions Fig. 5.is aidetailed,:end elevational view'show ing the track connectorein brokeri'linesu Fig. .6 is a detailed top plan view of the cross-* over employed in my traclelayout.

Fig. '7 is a: detailed section 'takeri"alon g lines 1-4 of Fig. 6 lookinglin the 'direction of tlrie' arrows.

Fig; 8 is a detailed sectionalview taken on lines- 88 of Fig. 6.

nisrm...

Fig? 10 is a. front'elevatio'nal' view of tliedev-ice shown'in Fig; 9; andxfi Fig; 11 isva top plan-view,lparts beingshown in 1 section, of the device illustrated-in Figsf Sat-10140. Figure 12 is asecti'on takenthrough lines lZ- l of Fig'urel; showing:the:'$dockstand-or fibridge w stand? -.in cross=sectiorin Generally vspeakinggthe" car loading anct unloadingidevice' of my invention.comprises a. portw able track layout positioned on the floor of the railway car and extendingioutthe door -thereof to thedock'or loading "platform; terminating ih a dock or bridge 'standcapabl of vertical" adjust-=--'--- ment to compensateifor the difference. in heighta between thexdock platfor'm a-nd the car floorn:

The track layout, as shown-in Figl'l of the accompanying drawing; comprises a pairof tracks 1 I and 2 of the same'gaugerunning parallel from dock 2|, fragmentarilyxshownin Figure-:1, to the" inside of the car A (see FigI-l) Here they diverge and track l .runs to one end of the inside of the car and track 2 to the otherinner extremityofthe a car: Each track.consists-ofaplurality ofse'ctions l4 comprising a pair of inverted T-rai1s; the'-nu'-' merals 3 andfl designating the.railsszof trackig and 1' the numerals 5 and 6 indicating the rails of- J track 2, and structural? supportsu'comprising :diageonal braces l andzangle-sectioned'spacers j cinecl 1 to the rails .to insure the' 'rigiclityof'the 'structure'r and to keep the lrails' at therproper; gauge? :The: :1 adjacent rails 3 andtfandzllandaiiof that'apcrtion of tracks I and? whichraresparalleli at'dock-stanclsection I9 are'rigidlyr joinedito each-other; as. shown best at I3 in FigurexZ, by 'somersuitablellh:

means, for example; by welding;

The portable track layout is fabricated in unit sections I 4 to facilitate its assembly :andudisasr-a sembly. The unit sectionstld of track are joined to each otheraby meansof track-connectors These track connectors .are .U -shapecl'meta1;hooks:

which swivel on pins Ill mounted on abutting spacers 8 of each unit section in such a manner that when two unit track sections are joined by inserting the pin 10 through connector holes provided in the end-most spacers 8, a rigid, portable connection is obtained under all types of moving or live loads and with adverse floor conditions.

A cross-over section 12 of the track layout enables loading or unloading operations to be carried on in opposite ends of the railway car simultaneously without the manipulation of switches or the like. The problem of retaining the doubleflanged wheels B of a dolly (not shown) on the track while it transports a load of material through the cross-over I5 of the two inside rails 4 and 6 of tracks I and 2, respectively, is solved by the use of a cross-over plate [6 having a plurality of retainers or guides ll disposed about the periphery thereover and parallel to the intersecting rails 4 and 6. A guide pin [8 is positioned substantially in the center of plate I6. Guide pin I8 is in alignment with the spaced free ends of rails 4 and 6 (see Fig. 6) in order that a single or double-flanged wheel of a dolly may freely pass over the cross-over section. The guiding action of the retainers I! and the guide pin l8 prevents the dolly from jumping the tracks.

The cross-over section I2 is connected to the dock stand section [9 which leads to the railway car door (not shown) and bridges the space between said car door and the loading dock or platform 2|. One end of the dock stand i9 is joined to the cross-over section I2 by a pair of track connectors 9 in a manner similar to the connecting means hereinbefore described in conjunction with adjacent sections M. The other end of the section I9 is secured to supporting legs 22 which carry ratchet teeth 22. The dock end of the dock stand section is supported on the dock 2| by a plate 23 attached to sleeves 24 slidably mounted on the legs 22. A pawl release rod 26 is mounted in the yokes 20 of the sleeves 24. A pair of pawls 25 are mounted on the pawl release rod 26 in engaging relationship with the ratchet teeth 22 on the supporting legs 22. A pair of springs 21 are positioned on the pawl release rod 26 adjacent pawls 25 to keep the pawls normally in engagement with the teeth 22'. Disengagement of the pawls 25 to permit vertical adjustment of the dock stand section is accomplished by manipulation of a handle 28 rigidly connected to rod 26. Thus the dock stand section l3 may be elevated to bring it up to the same level as the track sections inside the railway car.

That portion of the dock stand section l9 which engages the floor of the railway car may be provided with cleats 29 which grip the floor when under a load, thus preventing sliding of the dock stand section I9.

The dock stand section I!) is provided with a metal screen floor grate 30 which serves as a safe, convenient, non-skid access platform for the use of operating personnel. The under side of clock stand section [9 is provided with a suitable supporting structure comprising a plurality of leg braces 3|. The ends of the tracks I and 2 which extend out to the dock are curved upwardly as shown at 32 in Figure 3 to prevent the wheeled carrier, such as a dolly, used to move material along the tracks, from running ofi the dock end thereof.

What I claim is:

1. A car loading and unloading device comprising a bridge section, one end of said bridge section being supportable by said car, ground-engaging means supporting the other end of said bridge section, said ground-engaging means being spaced from said car, two tracks of the same gauge supported by said bridge section in parallel relation, each track comprising an inside rail and an outside rail, each of the inside rails being adjacent the outside rail of the other track, and a crossover section supportable by said car, wherein the inside rails of said tracks intersect each other and are cut away at the point of intersection to permit the passage of a flanged wheel over said crossover section; said two tracks leading into said car in divergent directions from said cross-over section and being supportable by said car.

2. A car loading and unloading device comprising a bridge section, one end of said bridge section being supportable by said car, vertically adjustable ground-engaging means supporting the other end of said bridge section, said ground-engaging means being spaced from said car, two tracks of the same gauge supported by said bridge section in parallel relation, each track comprising an inside rail and an outside rail, each of the inside rails being adjacent the outside rail of the other track, and a cross-over section supportable by said car, wherein the inside rails of said tracks intersect each other and are cut away at the point of intersection to permit the passage of a flanged wheel over said cross-over section; said two tracks leading into said car in divergent directions from said cross-over section and being supportable by said car.

3. A car loading and unloading device comprising a bridge section, one end of said bridge section being supportable by said car, ground-engaging means supporting the other end of said bridge section, stop means at said other end to prevent a wheel from running off said bridge section, two tracks of the same gauge supported by said bridge section in parallel relation, each track comprising an inside rail and an outside rail, each of the inside rails being adjacent the outside rail of the other track; and a crossover section supportable by said car, wherein the inside rails of said tracks intersect each other and are cut away at the point of intersection to permit the passage of a flanged wheel over said crossover section; said two tracks leading into said car in divergent directions from said cross-over section and being supportable by said car.

4. A car loading and unloading device comprising a bridge section, one end of said bridge section being supportable by said car, vertically adjustable ground-engaging means supporting the other end of said bridge section, stop means at said other end to prevent a wheel from running off said bridge section, two tracks of the same gauge supported by said bridge section in parallel relation, each track comprising an inside rail and an outside rail, each of the inside rails being adjacent the outside rail of the other track and a cross-over section supportable by said car, wherein the inside rails of said tracks intersect each other and are cut away at the point of intersection to permit the passage of a flanged wheel over said cross-over section; said two tracks leading into said car in divergent directions from said cross-over section and being supportable by said car.

5. A car loading and unloading device according to claim 1, wherein said cross-over section includes a cross-over plate having a plurality of guides disposed about its periphery and a guide pin positioned substantially in the center of said cross-over plate and in alignment with the cut- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Olson et al Dec. 15, 1903 Boisselier Nov. 12, 1935 Hafner July 21, 1936 Burton July 22, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France Feb. 6, 1904 Germany May 22, 1928 

